Method for forming thin films

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a method for forming a film of aluminum oxide in which a target containing aluminum is sputtered in a gas containing fluorine atoms. 
     The thin film of aluminum oxide according to the present invention has little optical absorption and high refractive index in the ultraviolet and vacuum ultraviolet regions.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO THE RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a division of application Ser. No. 08/821,435, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,383,346, filed on Mar. 21, 1997, which claims priority to Japanese Patent Applications 8-093535 filed Mar. 22, 1996 and 9-086123 filed Mar. 19, 1997.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a method for forming thin films that are used for optical parts as a reflection preventing film or reflection enhancing film, and especially to a method for forming thin films suitable for use in optical parts applicable in ultraviolet and vacuum ultraviolet regions because they have a good spectroscopic characteristics in the ultraviolet region (wavelength of 230 to 400 nm) and vacuum ultraviolet region (wavelength of 190 to 230 nm).

2. Related Background Art

Methods for forming thin films by sputtering are widely used in the conventional art because they are rather easily applicable for forming thin film of metals, insulators and various kind of compounds. While there are a variety of sputtering methods such as magnetron sputtering and facing sputtering:

In the magnetron sputtering, known as a sputter capable of a high speed deposition, electrons are confined by magnetic field to increase plasma density.

A method for forming a film of indium-tin mixed oxide (ITO) by sputtering in a gas containing fluorine together with hydrogen and water is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-506266/International Publication WO 92/17620.

In U.S. Pat. No. 4,125,446, a method for forming a metallic film of aluminum by sputtering in a gas containing water and Ar is disclosed.

In a sputtering process for forming oxide films like alumina (Al₂O₃), alumina or aluminum (Al) is used as a target material and thin films are formed by a sputtering or reactive sputtering in a mixed gas of argon (Ar) and oxygen (O₂). In the methods for forming thin films by sputtering or reactive sputtering, a target material is ejected by ions accelerated under an ion-sheath voltage.

When the target material is composed of a compound, for example an alumina (Al₂O₃) target, the sputtering particles of alumina ejected from the target by an ion impact are decomposed and ejected from the target. The sputtering particles ejected are oxidized by colliding with oxygen or the like in the plasma or on the surface of substrates.

The method for forming a thin film of aluminum oxide is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-70749.

An example of the film-forming apparatus is a sputtering system (an apparatus for forming sputtering thin films) in which an ion source is mounted for the purpose of enhancing the reactivity by an ion-assist effect by irradiating the ions to the substrate.

A sputtering system and method for forming sputtering films are proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 7-258841 and 7-258845, wherein a positive voltage is applied on a target electrode to prevent abnormal electric discharge during sputtering. It was proved that a SiOF film having a lower dielectric constant than that of conventional silicon oxide (SiO₂) films is formed when a mixed material of oxides with fluorides is used. For example, it was reported that SiOF films containing F atoms was formed by a plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method by adding a mixed gas containing fluorine.

However, the alumina thin film formed by this method contains unreacted bonds (dangling bonds) that are bond deficiencies, thereby forming a film containing less numbers of oxygen atoms than those required for satisfying a stoichiometric oxygen content.

Recently, so called eximer stepper using an eximer laser that emits vacuum ultraviolet light having a short wavelength range (190 to 230 nm) is used for a light source for a projection aligner for producing semiconductor devices to attain a high resolution.

The thin films of alumina (Al₂O₃) formed by the conventional method for forming thin sputtering films and system for forming the same described above has a rather large absorption in the ultraviolet wavelength region and, especially, in the vacuum ultraviolet wavelength region. Therefore, it is difficult to use these thin films as optical thin films for ArF eximer steppers.

Twenty to thirty pieces of lenses are usually combined in the projection optical system for producing semiconductor devices. It is important to form several to dozens of multi-film layers of dielectric materials, as reflection preventing layer, having different refractive indices with each other on the surface of each lens to reduce the reflection index of the lens.

Suppose that 30 pieces of lenses are used in the projection optical system and the absorption of the reflection preventing film on each lens is 1% in the working wavelength region of ultraviolet and vacuum ultraviolet light. Then, the intensity of the transmitted light is reduced to 54.7% (the 60th power of 0.99) of the incident beam since the light transmittance decays in proportion to n-th power (n is the numbers of the lens used) of transmittance. Moreover, when the reflection preventing film has some degree of light absorption, the absorbed light energy is transferred into heat energy, which affect the quality of the printed images due to distortion of the lens. The reflection preventing film at the site where the eximer laser beam focuses may be broken.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide an optical thin film with little optical absorption and a good spectroscopic characteristics in the ultraviolet region and in the vacuum ultraviolet region.

An another object of the present invention is to provide an optical thin film comprising aluminum oxide containing fluorine.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an optical film comprising aluminum oxide having the ratio of the number of the atoms other than aluminum to the number of aluminum atoms is larger than 1.55 and smaller than 1.85.

Still further object of the present invention is to provide an optical thin film comprising aluminum oxide prepared by sputtering a target containing aluminum in a gas comprising fluorine atoms in which, if required, oxygen, water and helium are added.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of the system for forming thin films according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a chart for describing the operation of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of one example of a thin film forming system used in the present invention equipped with a fluorine monitor.

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of another example of a thin film forming system used in the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a graph indicating the relation of the contents of fluorine and hydroxyl groups in alumina with the optical absorptivity.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of the main components of the system for forming sputtering thin films according to the present invention. In the figure, numeral 1 is a vacuum vessel as a reaction chamber. Mounted in the vacuum vessel 1 are an evacuation means 2 for evacuating the air in the vessel, a gas feed means 12 for introducing various gases into the vessel, and a shutter driving system 17 for driving a shutter plate 16 equipped in the vessel. A cathode electrode 3 and a substrate holder 5 for holding a substrate 6 at a position opposed to the cathode electrode 3 are disposed in the vacuum vessel 1. An aluminum target 4 that serves as a target material is attached to the cathode electrode 3. The substrate holder 5 has a device for heating the substrate 6 attached to it. The shutter plate 16 is disposed at the foot of the substrate 6 to control the timing for forming thin films (thin films of alumina) on the substrate 6.

A high frequency power source 8 is connected to the cathode electrode 3 via a matching box 7 for matching discharge impedance. One terminal of a switch 10 is connected to the cathode electrode 3 via a low pass filter 9 for cutting high frequency components off from the high frequency power source 8. The other terminal of the switch 10 is connected to a DC power source 11 for applying DC voltage equal to the self-bias potential of plasma.

Sputtering gases, oxygen (O₂) and NF₃ gas containing fluorine, are piped to the gas feed means 12 via mass flow controllers (MFC) 13 and 14 for adjusting gas supply. The mass flow controller 14 is provided for adjusting the supply of NF₃ gas containing fluorine while a control system 15 is also provided for controlling the switch 10.

In the present embodiment, 200 sccm of oxygen gas (O₂) is introduced into the vacuum vessel 1 via the mass flow controller 13 in the gas inlet means 12 after sufficiently evacuating the air inside of the vacuum vessel 1 by the evacuation means 2. Argon gas may be incorporated in the oxygen gas. A plasma 18 is generated by supplying a high frequency electric power to the cathode electrode 3 and Al target 4 from the high frequency power source 8 via the matching box 7. The high frequency electric power is supplied up to a prescribed level while adjusting the matching so that the intensity of reflected high frequency wave will be kept to its minimum value. After completing a pre-sputtering step for cleaning the surface of the target 4 and for stabilizing discharge, the shutter plate 16 is turned open by the driving force of the shutter driving system 17 to start forming thin films on the substrate 5.

The elements 9, 10, 11 and 15 described above form a means for temporarily keeping the repeating self-bias near the earth potential while the target material is subjected to a sputtering discharge at metal materials (Al).

In the system for forming sputtering thin films according to the present embodiment, means for adding fluorine or gases of fluoride compounds are used when sputtering thin films are formed. Fluorine atoms, fluoride ions and fluoride radicals are formed through a complex decomposition reaction of fluorine or fluoride compounds added during the plasma discharge. The monovalent fluorine atoms, fluoride ions and fluorine radicals formed are so reactive that they are liable to be involved in bond terminations by reacting with the unreacted bonds (dangling bonds) of bond deficiencies in the thin film formed by sputtering.

When the self-bias during sputtering is temporarily adjusted to the potential near the earth potential, sputtering is suppressed, though the plasma is continuing, and few thin films are formed because ion acceleration to the surface of the target diminishes. When gasses supplemented with fluorine or fluoride compounds are introduced by synchronizing with adjusting the self-bias close to the earth potential, they are decomposed in the plasma and fluorine atoms, fluoride ions and fluoride radicals formed react with unreacted bonds (dangling bonds) in bond deficiencies on the surface of the substrates, thereby terminating the chemical bonds.

By alternately repeating the steps for film formations and for reactions on the surface of the substrate, the density of the bond deficiencies in the films formed can be decreased.

An excellent optical thin film having low absorption in ultraviolet and vacuum ultraviolet regions and being durable to irradiation of ultraviolet or vacuum ultraviolet laser is obtained by the process described above.

FIG. 2 is a time chart describing various operations in forming a thin film of alumina on the substrate 5 according to the present embodiment. The figure contains a time chart representing a high frequency voltage having an amplitude of Vrf that is applied at the beginning of electric discharge, at a pre-sputtering stage and at an initial stage of thin film formation, a control signal for the switch 10, and a gas supply (O₂ and NF₃ gases) configuration from the gas feed means. When a high frequency voltage having an amplitude of Vrf is applied to the target 4 before the electric discharge starts, electrons with a small mass follow along with the electric field and generates a plasma by colliding with gaseous molecules having heavy masses. Electrons are accumulated on the surface of the target 4 due to a difference in mobility between electrons and ions, which imparts negative vias (Vb) to the target.

After the pre-sputtering step has completed, formation of thin films on the substrate 5 starts by opening the shutter plate 16. After starting to form thin films, a control signal is applied from the control system 15 for 5 sec. to the switch 10 and the mass flow controller 14 for adjusting NF₃ gas feed. The switch 10 turns close for 5 sec. by the control signal applied to the mass flow controller 14, thereby supplying fluoride gas. A DC voltage is supplied from the DC power source 11. The prescribed output level of this DC voltage is adjusted to an approximately equal level with the self-bias voltage but its polarity is reversed. Electrons accumulated on the surface of the target 4 flows through the cathode electrode 3, low-pass filter 9 and switch 10 to the DC power source 11 and the bias potential is made to the level close to the earth potential. The plasma is still continuing because the high frequency voltage is being impressed on the target 4.

NF₃ gas with a prescribed flow rate is supplied in the vacuum vessel 1 for 5 sec. when a control signal synchronized with the signal from the switch 10 is supplied to the mass flow controller 14 for adjusting the supply of NF₃ gas. The NF₃ gas supplied is decomposed into highly reactive monovalent fluorine atoms, fluorine radicals and fluoride ions in the plasma 18, which react with the unreacted bonds of the bond deficiencies in the thin films of alumina formed on the substrate 5. While nitrogen atoms and nitrogen radicals are also formed in the plasma 18, their reactivities are so low compared with oxygenation or fluorination reactions that a nitrogenation reaction with the thin films of alumina formed on the substrate 5 does not start.

An excellent thin film with few bond deficiencies can be formed by alternately repeating the steps mainly for film formation and mainly for reactions.

The signal cycle of the control signals from the control system 15 has a close relation with the film-forming rate. A signal cycle of 0.1 Hz or less is preferable. Since the film-forming rate of the Al₂O₃ thin film is 0.03 nm/sec when 2.5 kw of high frequency power is supplied to the Al target 4 with an area of 5×15 square inches while the size of the alumina molecule is several tenth nm, the reaction process was set to start after forming a single layer in this preferred embodiment.

Because fluorine series of gases with high reactivities are introduced in the film formation according to the present embodiment, it is preferable to use aluminum (Al) materials, which are resistive to fluorine and do not cause any problems when the materials migrate into the film as contaminants, for the vacuum vessel 1 and for the components in the vacuum vessel 1.

The mass flow controller 14 for adjusting the supply of NF₃ gas from the gas feed means 12 should be disposed as close as possible to the vacuum vessel 1 to minimize the delay time for introducing the gas. It is also preferable that signals are applied from the control system 15 to the mass flow controller 14 by taking the delay time for introducing the gas into account.

Although NF₃ gas was used as a gas containing fluoride compounds, F₂, SiF₄, CF₄, C₂F₂ or C₄F₈ may be used instead of NF₃ gas. These gases were selected from those satisfying the conditions below.

(1-a) The gases should contain fluorine or fluoride compounds because the unreacted chemical bonds (dangling bonds) in the bond deficiencies are terminated by bonding with fluorine atoms.

(1-b) In the case of gases of fluoride compounds, the absorption edge of the compounds formed by oxidizing the atoms bonded to fluorine atom should be in the vacuum ultraviolet region.

(1-c) In the case of gases of fluoride compounds, the atoms bonding to fluorine atom should have low reactivities than oxidation reactions or fluorination reactions.

In the process for forming sputtering thin films described above, the amount of fluorine or gases of fluoride compounds added is preferably from 0.5% to 20% of the amount of the sputtering gas. When the amount is 0.5% or more, the gas exhibits a termination effect that allows the gas to react with the unreacted chemical bonds (dangling bonds) of the bond deficiencies in the thin film formed, thereby making it possible to obtain a film without any optical absorption in the wavelength range from the ultraviolet region having a wavelength of 300 nm or below to the vacuum ultraviolet region having a wavelength of 193 nm.

When the amount of fluorine or gases of fluoride compounds added is more than 20%, some troubles as described below are seen in the process for forming thin films of alumina.

(2-a) When the film-forming rate of aluminum fluoride (AlF₃) is very rapid and the amount of the gases added is large during pulse-wise introduction of the reaction gases, a large amount of aluminum fluoride (AlF₃) is formed in the sputtering thin film of alumina by the effect of residual fluorine. Aluminum fluoride (AlF₃) has an inherent deliquescence that allows the material to be dissolved out by absorbing moisture in the air, thereby causing environmental problems as well as deteriorating durability.

(2-b) Both of the materials having a high refractive indices and low refractive indices are required for preparing a film having such optical characteristics as reflection preventing films in the regions from the ultraviolet wavelength of 300 nm or below to the vacuum ultraviolet wavelength of 193 nm. However, any optical materials having a high refractive indices suitable for use in the wavelength region described above are not available today. Therefore, the required optical characteristics are only attained by using alumina (Al₂O₃) that is an intermediate refraction material having a refractive index of n=1.85 at 193 nm. For example, a material with excellent optical characteristics suitable for forming a reflection preventing film in a broad wavelength range can be obtained by a combination of the materials having a large difference between an intermediate refractive index and a low refractive index. Since aluminum fluoride (AlF₃) has a low refractive index of n=1.45 at a wavelength of 193 nm, the refractive index (n) of the alumina film becomes 1.77 or less when the content of fluoride after forming the sputtering thin film of alumina exceeds 20% by weight. The difference between the refractive index of alumina thus formed and that of the material with a low refractive index—SiO₂, MgF₂ or CaF₂—is so small that it is difficult to obtain an excellent optical characteristics.

In the present embodiment, optical parts like lenses and mirrors, on which a thin film of alumina obtained by using the method and system for forming sputtering thin films described above is applied, are used for optical projection systems for effectively producing semiconductor devices.

According to the embodiments of the present invention, a sputtering thin film which is suitable for optical systems used in the ultraviolet and vacuum ultraviolet regions can be produced by appropriately selecting each element of the system and steps for forming a thin film on the substrate, especially by film-forming an alumina (Al₂O₃) thin film on the substrate. This film has little absorption in the ultraviolet and vacuum ultraviolet regions and other characteristics required for use described above.

Thin films of alumina formed by the conventional sputtering methods or reactive sputtering methods have unreacted bonds (dangling bonds) due to the bond deficiencies in the film. A high absorption of the film in the ultraviolet and vacuum ultraviolet regions is ascribed to the presence of these deficiencies.

According to the present embodiment, on the other hand, fluorine or gases of fluoride compounds are added by synchronizing with the self-bias control of the target during the process for forming thin films of alumina when unreacted bonds (dangling bonds) due to bond deficiencies are liable to be formed. The process is divided into alternately repeating two steps of mainly forming the films and mainly allowing to react the gases on the surface of the substrate, thereby reducing the density of the bond deficiencies in the film formed and obtaining thin films with little optical absorption in the ultraviolet region and vacuum ultraviolet region.

The thin films of alumina with low absorption obtained by the embodiments of the present invention have a resistivity against irradiation by a ultraviolet or vacuum ultraviolet lasers like KrF or ArF eximer lasers. Further, the films have high refractive indices when applied on the optical parts to be used in the ultraviolet region (300 nm or below) and vacuum ultraviolet region. When the film is combined with the materials having low refractive indices such as SiO₂, MgF₂ and CaF₂ that are suitable for use in the wavelength region described above, optical elements having low reflective indices in a wide wavelength region can be easily prepared.

FIG. 3 shows a system for forming thin films according to the another embodiment of the present invention. This is a system by which the amount of fluorine is monitored during the film-forming process, provided with: a film-forming chamber 1 that is evacuated with a vacuum pump as an evacuation means 2 connected to an exhaust port, a substrate holder 5 as holding means disposed in the chamber, a rotary target unit 3 as generator means for film-forming particles opposed to the substrate holder 5, power sources 8 and 11 for supplying electric current to the target, reaction gas feed means provided with reaction gas feed lines 13 a, 14 a and 19 a for introducing the reaction gases into the film-forming chamber 1 via the mass flow controllers 13, 14 and 19, a mass spectrometer 21 as a detection means for fluorine in the atmosphere of the film-forming chamber 1 and CPU 15 as control means connected to the mass spectrometer. This CPU controls a heater 20 for heating the inside of the film-forming chamber 1, the mass flow controllers 13, 14 and 19 in each reaction gas feed line 13 a, 14 a and 19 a and power sources 8 and 11.

The substrate holder 5 has a heater 5 a for heating a substrate 6 as a base body mounted thereon, and rotates around an axis O₁ by a rotary driving means (not shown). The rotary target unit 3 has a target holder freely rotating around an axis O₂ perpendicular to the axis O₁ of the substrate holder 5, and one pair of target 4 held thereon. Both targets 4 are provided with magnets 4 a, on their opposed faces. When alternating multi-layers are formed by using two kind of film-forming materials, for example, each target of 4 is used by turns by rotating the target holder 3, thereby making it possible to continuously form each layer without exposing the film-forming chamber 1 to the open air.

The concentration of generated fluorine in the film-forming chamber 1 is detected as fluoride ion current value with the mass spectrometer 21 and the reaction gas feed lines are controlled by sending the signal from the mass spectrometer to CPU.

The amount of fluorine in the film-forming chamber 1 is previously determined by an experiment and the measured values are stored in CPU 15. CPU 15 controls the reaction gas feed lines by comparing the detected values from the mass spectrometer 21 with the stored data in CPU 15.

According to the present embodiment shown in FIG. 3, a thin film having a refractive index identical with the designed values can be constantly formed by adjusting the fluorine levels in the film-forming chamber to a prescribed level. This greatly contributes to the improvement of qualities of the optical thin films and growth of productivity.

In forming conventional thin films to be used in the ultraviolet region, H₂O was introduced in addition to sputtering gases and reaction gases as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 07-070749. Any optical absorption against the KrF laser beam having a wavelength of around 248 nm was not observed in the films. When the same method for forming thin films was applied for the optical parts to be used for the optical systems for ArF eximer laser, the film showed an absorption at a wavelength of 193 nm.

In thin films of light-transmissive oxides commonly used for optical systems, optical absorption becomes more dominant within the thin films as the wavelength becomes shorter; i.e., the ratio of the intensity of the transmitted light against the incident beam intensity—optical transmittance—decreases as the wavelength is decreased. For these reasons, it is supposed that the conventional techniques for forming thin films could not comply with the requirement to reduce the optical absorption when ArF laser having a more shorter wavelength region around 193 nm than that of KrF laser is used.

This optical absorption prevents the transmittance of the film from being increased, which has been the original object according to the present invention. Moreover, the absorbed light energy is transferred within the thin film into heat energy that causes a temperature increase of substrate, or optical glass elements, that results in a functional deterioration of the elements. Therefore, it is desirable to reduce the absorption of the thin film as small as possible.

From the view point of micro-structures of the film, bond deficiencies in the film is mainly responsible for the increase in light absorption. The bond deficiencies are related to the presence of atoms in the thin film having unreacted bonds (dangling bonds) that induce optical absorption. Supplying fluorine atoms or hydroxyl groups (OH) to the deficiency sites for allowing them to react with the unreacted bonds is effective for quenching the bond deficiencies.

An object of the examples described hereinafter is, by quenching the unreacted bond, to provide a thin film without any absorption even at short wavelength region and a method for forming the same.

The method according to the examples to be described hereinafter comprise a step of introducing at least one of the gases of CF₄ and NF₃, and H₂O at least simultaneously into the reaction vessel to deposit thin films. In this method, CF₄ gas and NF₃ gas, and H₂O are decomposed in the plasma forming F (radicals or ions) and OH (radicals or ions), respectively, which react with unreacted bonds in the thin films to quench the bond deficiencies responsible for optical absorptions.

Especially, in the process for forming alumina films, the mass flow rate during the film-formation is adjusted so that the content of fluorine in the thin film becomes 2.0% by weight or more, more preferably 2.0 to 20% by weight, for the purpose of further reducing the optical absorption of the film.

Furthermore, in the process for forming alumina films, the mass flow rate during the film-formation is adjusted so that the content of hydroxyl group in the thin film becomes 0.5% by weight or more for the purpose of further reducing the optical absorption of the film.

Accordingly, when the mass flow rate during the film formation is adjusted so that the contents of fluorine and hydroxyl group in the thin film become 2.0% or more and 0.5% by weight or more, respectively, an alumina film free from optical absorption can be prepared.

The apparatus for forming optical thin films used in the examples below is described referring to FIG. 4.

A substrate holder 5 for holding the substrate 6 and target holder 3 for holding the target 4 are provided in the film-forming chamber 1. The film-forming chamber 1 is connected to a vacuum pump 2 through an exhaust port. An RF voltage having a frequency of 13.56 MHz is impressed on the target 4 from the high frequency power source 8.

101 is a sputtering gas feed means in which valves and mass flow controllers are provided from which Ar or He, or a mixed gas of Ar and He is supplied. Similarly, 102 is a oxygen feed means and 103 and 104 are feed means of the gases containing fluorine atoms. In this figure, 103 provides a feed means for fluorocarbons while 104 provides a feed means for nitrogen fluoride.

105 is a feed means for water, which supplies water vapor evaporated at an isothermal bath 106 into the film-forming chamber 1 through the mass flow controllers and valves.

EXAMPLE 1

The effect of simultaneously introducing H₂O and CF₄ will be described in the example of the film forming method by sputtering.

The system used in this example was that illustrated in FIG. 4. An aluminum target was placed on a holder 3 to which a high frequency electric power can be impressed and on the back face of which a magnet was attached. A substrate 6 on which thin layers were to be laminated was disposed in a vacuum vessel 1. Ar, O₂, CF₄ and NF₃ gases and H₂O vapor were separately introduced into the vessel 1 through each gas feed means. H₂O was introduced after evaporating the liquid to a vapor in an isothermal bath 7.

In this example, H₂O vapor and CF₄ gas were introduced in the vacuum vessel at mass flow rates of 2.0 sccm and 3.5 sccm, respectively, while feeding Ar and O₂ gases at mass flow rates of 20 sccm and 80 sccm, respectively, thereby depositing an alumina film of about 100 nm in thickness on a quartz substrate.

EXAMPLE 2

H₂O vapor and CF₄ gas were introduced in a vacuum vessel at a combined three different mass flow rates while feeding O₂ at a mass flow rate of 100 sccm by using the same system as used in Example 1 shown in FIG. 4, thereby depositing an alumina film of about 100 nm in thickness on a quartz substrate followed by measurements of optical absorptivity. The results are shown in Table 1.

The optical absorptivity was calculated as (100%−transmittance−reflectance) where transmittance and reflectance were measured by a spectrophotometer. The measuring wavelength was 193 nm which is the wavelength emitted from ArF laser.

TABLE 1 Mass Flow Rate (sccm) Optical H₂O CF₄ absorptivity (%) Sample 1 0 0 8.6 Sample 2 2.0 0 2.4 Sample 3 2.0 3.5 0.0

By comparing this result with that of Example 1, it was shown that the optical absorptivity was smaller in this example where Ar was not introduced and the alumina film which was formed by introducing both of H₂O vapor and CF₄ gas has also smaller optical absorptivity.

EXAMPLE 3

An alumina film was formed by varying the feed mass of H₂O vapor and CF₄ gas with a constant mass flow rate of oxygen of 100 sccm by using the same apparatus as used in Example 1 shown in FIG. 4. The relation of the ratio of the hydroxyl group and fluorine contents in the alumina film to the total weight of the film with the optical absorptivity of the film was investigated.

The optical absorptivity was calculated as (100%−transmittance−reflectance) where transmittance and reflectance were measured by a spectrophotometer. The measuring wavelength was 193 nm which is the wavelength emitted from ArF laser. The contents of hydroxyl group and fluorine in the film were determined by ESCA.

When the proportion of hydroxyl group in the film was 0.5% by weight or more, optical absorption was rapidly decreased while, when the proportion of fluorine was 2.0% by weight or more, the optical absorption showed a tendency to be reduced. When the proportions of hydroxyl group and of fluorine were 0.5% by weight or more and 2.0% by weight or more, respectively, an optical absorption of as small as 0.2% or less was realized.

These results indicate that an oxide thin film with a small optical absorption containing both of fluorine and hydroxyl group can be formed by at least simultaneously introducing at least one of the gases of CF₄ and NF₃, and H₂O vapor.

EXAMPLE 4

The gases of CF₄ and NF₃ introduced have an effect for reducing the optical absorption of the film because F atoms generated by a decomposition of these gases in a plasma during sputtering react with unreacted bonds (tangling bonds) at the sites of bond deficiencies in the thin film. It is sometimes observed, however, that an excess amount of F atoms incorporated into the thin film also reduce the refractive index of the film.

Although the changes in refractive indices should not always be noticed, a design of the optical films for realizing desired optical characteristics would be difficult when the refractive index of the film has been reduced. Despite a reduction of the contents of CF₄ and NF₃ in the film is desirable in one viewpoint, an excessive reduction of them would make it hopeless to decrease the optical absorption.

The examples to be described hereinafter is to provide a thin film that do not have any absorption and have a high refractive index in the ultraviolet region.

Thin films were allowed to deposit by introducing oxygen, H₂O vapor, at least one of the gases of CF₄ and NF₃, and He in the vacuum vessel when the films were formed by the sputtering method according to the examples described hereinafter.

The effect of introducing He is that helium atoms are excited in the plasma and are converted to metastable atoms followed by generating activated oxygen by reacting with oxygen molecule, thereby curing insufficient oxidation of the film to decrease the optical absorption. On the other hand, no reduction in the refractive index is observed compared with the cases when CF₄ and NF₃ gases are introduced without introducing He gas. However, since the problem of reducing the optical absorption in the ultraviolet region can not be fully settled only by introducing O₂, H₂O and He, introduction of CF₄ and NF₃ gases together with the above gases should be considered.

After all, in order not to lower the refractive index of the film without increasing the optical absorption of the thin film, it is more preferable that the amount of introduction of three kind of gases of O₂, H₂O and He is at first optimized so that the optical absorption is minimized, then optimizing the amount of introduction of CF₄ and NF₃ gases again to minimize the optical absorption of the film.

Further decrease in the optical absorption of the film is made possible when the mass flow rates of the gases during the formation of aluminum oxide films are adjusted so that 0.5% by weight or more of hydroxyl group and 2.0% by weight or more of fluorine are contained in the thin film.

The system illustrated in FIG. 4 was again used in this Example 4. Sputtering was carried out by introducing He, O₂, CF₄ and H₂O in the vacuum vessel in which an aluminum target was placed on the target holder 3.

Oxygen was fed at a mass flow rate of 100 sccm while H₂O, He and NF₃ gases were introduced at each combination of mass flow rate as listed in Table 2 in the vacuum vessel. A film of Al₂O₃ with a thickness of 100 nm was deposited in each experiment by impressing 500 W of high frequency power on the target. The results of measurements of optical absorptions and refractive indices are also shown in Table 2.

The optical absorptivity was calculated as (100%−transmittance−reflectance) where transmittance and reflectance were measured by a spectrophotometer. The measuring wavelength was 248 nm and 193 nm which are the wavelength emitted from KrF and ArF lasers, respectively. The refractive index was measured at 193 nm which is the wavelength emitted from ArF laser.

TABLE 2 Mass flow rate Optical (sccm) absorptivity (%) Refractive H₂O He CF₄ 248 (nm) 193 (nm) index Sample 4 2.0  0 0 0.3 2.5 1.83 Sample 5 2.0  0 1.5 0.0 0.0 1.76 Sample 6 2.0 250 0 0.0 1.5 1.82 Sample 7 2.0 250 0.7 0.0 0.0 1.81

By comparing Sample 4 with Sample 6, it is shown that, when He was introduced, the optical absorption of Sample 6 was reduced but not fully extinguished although little reduction in the refractive index was observed. In Sample 5, the optical absorption was reduced to 0% by introducing a large amount of CF₄ but the refractive index was also considerably reduced. When the mass flow rate of CF₄ was adjusted while keeping the mass flow rates of H₂O and He in Sample 6 constant so that the optical absorption becomes 0%, a film of Sample 7 in which the refractive index was not so largely reduced as compared with that of Sample 4 was obtained.

The results above indicate that Sample 7 formed by optimizing the mass flow rates of H₂O, He and CF₄ gives a film having a high refractive index without any optical absorption at 248 nm and 193 nm.

EXAMPLE 5

A film of Al₂O₃ was formed by keeping a mass flow rate of O₂ at 100 sccm with changing the mass flow rates of H₂O and CF₄ by using the same apparatus as was used in Example 1. The relation between the weight ratio of hydroxyl group and fluorine to the total weight of the film and the optical absorptivity is shown in FIG. 5.

The optical absorptivity was calculated as (100%−transmittance−reflectance) where transmittance and reflectance were measured by a spectrophotometer. The measuring wavelength was 193 nm which is the wavelength emitted from ArF laser. The contents of hydroxyl group and fluorine in the Al₂O₃ film were measured by ESCA.

The figure shows that the optical absorption rapidly decreases when the contents of hydroxyl group and fluorine are 0.5% by weight or more and 2.0% by weight or more, respectively. The content of fluorine was never increased up to 6.0% by weight or more even when its mass flow rate was increased. Therefore, it was made clear that an optical absorption as small as 0.1% or less can be realized in a range that the contents of hydroxyl group is 0.5% by weight or more and that of fluorine is 2.0% by weight or more.

This example indicates that an oxide film with little optical absorption and high refractive index can be formed by introducing at least one of fluorine-containing gases such as the CF₄ gas or NF₃ gas together with H₂O and He when the thin film is formed by a sputtering method.

EXAMPLE 6

A stoichiometric ratio of Al:O=2:3 has been recognized to be optimal for reducing the optical absorption when optical thin films of Al₂O₃ for uses in the ultraviolet wavelength region are formed.

However, in the Al₂O₃ films formed based on the above technical concept, the optical absorption was not reduced at a wavelength of ArF eximer laser (193 nm).

Therefore, gases containing H compounds and F compounds and He in addition to conventional gases containing O₂ were introduced into the vacuum vessel of the sputtering system for the purpose of solving the problems described above in forming optical thin films of Al₂O₃. The binding ratio of Al to O in the thin film formed by this method is not 2:3 but O is excessively bound to Al. The film also contains OH groups that are recognized to terminate excess bonds. This is the condition for reducing the optical absorption and for providing a thin film having a low optical absorption at a wavelength of ArF eximer laser (193 nm).

In this example, sample 8 was prepared by using the system shown in FIG. 4.

Al and quartz were used as a target and substrate, respectively, and a RF power source was used. The method for forming optical thin films according to the present example is as follows:

The inside of the vacuum chamber was first evacuated to 1×10⁻⁴ Pa or less. Then, O₂ gas, He gas and H₂O gas were introduced at mass flow rates of about 100 sccm, 100 sccm and 2 sccm, respectively. An electric power from the power source was supplied to the target to generate a plasma. The target component Al was sputtered by this plasma and reacted with oxygen to form a thin film of aluminum oxide. The atomic ratio of Al and O in the film of aluminum oxide formed by this method was confirmed to be 1:1.7 by an assay using ESCA. The proportion of oxygen that was bound to Al to the total oxygen in the film was 96.4% while the proportion of oxygen incorporated into OH bonds was 3.6%. The optical absorptivity of the film formed by this method at a wavelength of ArF eximer laser (193 nm) was only 0.6% per 100 nm of film thickness.

Sample 9 was prepared as follows:

Al and quartz were used as a target and substrate, respectively, and a RF power source was used.

The inside of the vacuum chamber was first evacuated to 1×10⁻⁴ Pa or less. Then, O₂ gas, He gas and H₂O gas were introduced at mass flow rates of about 100 sccm, 200 sccm and 2 sccm, respectively. An electric power from the power source was supplied to the target to generate a plasma. The target component Al was spattered by this plasma and reacted with oxygen to form a thin film of aluminum oxide. The atomic ratio of Al and O in the film formed by this method was confirmed to be 1:1.71 by an assay using ESCA. The proportion of oxygen that is bound to Al to the total oxygen in the film was 96.9% while the proportion of oxygen incorporated into OH bonds was 3.1%.

The optical absorptivity of the film formed by this method at a wavelength of ArF eximer laser (193 nm) was only 0.3% per 100 nm of film thickness.

Sample 10 was prepared as follows:

Al and quartz were used as a target and substrate, respectively, and a RF power source was used.

The inside of the vacuum chamber was first evacuated to 1×10⁻⁴ Pa or less. Then, O₂ gas, CF₄ gas and H₂O gas were introduced at mass flow rates of about 100 sccm, 3.5 sccm and 2 sccm, respectively. An electric power from the power source was supplied to the target to generate a plasma. The target component Al was spattered by this plasma and reacted with oxygen to form a thin film of aluminum oxide. The atomic ratio of Al, O and F in the aluminum oxide film formed by this method was confirmed to be 1:1.59:0.21 by an assay using ESCA. The proportion of oxygen that was bound to Al to the total oxygen in the film was 97.3% while the proportion of oxygen incorporated into OH bonds was 2.7%. F in the film was not bound to Al.

The optical absorptivity of the film formed by this method at a wavelength of ArF eximer laser (193 nm) was only 0.1% per 100 nm of film thickness.

Sample 11 was prepared as follows:

Al and quartz were used as a target and substrate, respectively, and a RF power source was used.

The inside of the vacuum chamber was first evacuated to 1×10⁻⁴ Pa or less. Then, O₂ gas, He gas and H₂ gas were introduced at mass flow rates of about 180 sccm, 200 sccm and 30 sccm, respectively. An electric power from the power source was supplied to the target to generate a plasma. The target component Al was spattered by this plasma and reacted with oxygen to form a thin film of aluminum oxide. The atomic ratio of Al and O in the film formed by this method was confirmed to be 1:1.65 by an assay using ESCA. The proportion of oxygen that was bound to Al to the total oxygen in the film was 97% while the proportion of oxygen incorporated into OH bonds was 3%.

The optical absorptivity of the film formed by this method at a wavelength of ArF eximer laser (193 nm) was only 0.3% per 100 nm of film thickness.

The results obtained in Example 6 described above are listed in Table 3. The example allowed to form an optical thin film mainly containing Al₂O₃ having an optical absorptivity of 1% or less at a wavelength of ArF eximer laser (193 nm) at a low temperature.

TABLE 3 Ratio of O Ratio of O Content of O bound to Al bound to OH Content of F (ratio to Al) (%) (%) (ratio to Al) Sample 8 1.70 96.4 3.6 0.0 Sample 9 1.71 96.9 3.1 0.0 Sample 10 1.59 97.3 2.7 0.21 Sample 11 1.65 97.0 3.0 0.0

As described in the examples above, when the ratio of NE to NA, where the number of aluminum atoms is NA and that of atoms other than Al is NE, is more than 1.55 and less than 1.85, the thin films exhibit excellent optical characteristics.

It is desirable that the ratio of NO to NA, where NO is the number of oxygen atoms, is more than 1.55 and less than 1.75.

It is further preferable that the proportion of the number of oxygen atoms bound to aluminum atoms is 95% or more and that of the number of oxygen atoms bound to hydrogen atoms is 2.0% or more. 

1. Optical parts in which a film of aluminum oxide is formed on a light-transmissive insulating substrate, wherein the film of aluminum oxide has the ratio of NE to NA in the aluminum oxide film, the ratio satisfying the following relation: 1.55<NE/NA<1.85 where NA is the number of aluminum atoms and NE is the number of the atoms other than aluminum atoms contained in the film.
 2. Optical parts in which a film of aluminum oxide is formed on a light-transmissive insulating substrate, wherein the aluminum oxide film comprises fluorine in a content of 2% by weight or more and wherein the aluminum oxide film additionally includes hydroxyl groups in a content of 0.5% by weight or more.
 3. Optical parts according to claim 1, wherein the aluminum oxide film additionally has a ratio NO to NA which said ratio satisfies the relation: 1.55<NO/NA<1.75, wherein NO is the number of oxygen atoms contained in the film, and wherein the proportion of oxygen atoms bound to aluminum atoms is 95% or more and the proportion of oxygen atoms bound to hydrogen atoms is 2.0% by weight or more in the films. 